Plant pathogens are known to cause massive damage to important crops, resulting in significant agricultural losses with widespread consequences for both the food supply and other industries that rely on plant materials. As such, there is a long felt need to reduce the incidence and/or impact of agricultural pests on crop production.
An example of such pathogens is the Fusarium oxysporum genus of plant fungi. F. oxysporum is known to devastate various crop plants including, but not limited to pea, banana, cotton, tomato, and others. F. oxysporum is characterized by several different specialized forms, which are referred to as formae specialis (f.sp.), each of which infect a variety of hosts to cause disease. There are at least 48 different formae speciales of F. oxysporum. 
One particular formae special's of F. oxysporum is. F. oxysporum f.sp. melonis (FOM), which infects various melons of the species Cucumis melo, which includes European cantaloupes and includes muskmelons such as American cantaloupes, sugar melons, honeydews, and Casaba. Several races have been identified for FOM, and include races 0, 1, 2, and 1,2. Additionally, two genes, Fom-1 and Fom-2, have been identified that are associated with resistance to races 0 and 2, and 0 and 1, respectively (Risser et al., 1976).
What are needed, then, are new hybrid and/or inbred Cucumis melo varieties that are resistant to FOM race 1,2, and new methods for introducing increased resistance to FOM race 1,2 in melons.